Abstract : The development of a computer based model for the evaluation of deck plan layouts for the Navy has resulted in the LAYEVAL evaluation system. It represents a procedure for assessing selected importance weights assigned by decision makers in the layout evaluation process. The LAYEVAL system has yet to be thoroughly tested, although preliminary validation efforts have been undertaken and these results are described in this report. It is anticipated that a more complete validation will be conducted in a later effort. Several experimental directions were explored during the testing of LAYEVAL. The DM was asked to supply specific information and, later, was shown the weights that resulted from his data. The various data translations and optimization efforts were not displayed to the DM, but these did constitute the areas of exploration for research purposes.